Ability Sequence

Introduction

Hi, my name is HeartÓfDarkness and i am a casual player on EUW. This is my very first guide, so feel free to comment, i would love to receive some feedback, to improve this guide. U can also give me a thumbs up if u like my work.

I started playing LoL in season 2. As i got a little bit better into the game, i heard about Nocturne, and instantly fell in love with his design and kit. It took me really long to scrape up the IP since i was only playing coop games (hahaha). Since then he is my all time favourite champion.

My guide is maybe not what u would expect from a GUIDE, it doesnt show the most efficient way of playing Nocturne. I just want to share my build with the LoL community.

Warning, this guide contains unexplaned so called fold expressions, if u are new to the game, u might take a while to figure them out. I also dont explain every item or ability, so again u will understand the content of this guide better, if u are an advanced player.

Abilities

In this chapter, i will explain Nocturne's abilities and how to use them. I will also tell u about some neat tricks that i know.

This passive, giving u a little bit sustain when jungling early on, is not the best passive u can get, but its ok. It's pretty cool that it received an AP scaling, but that doesnt cause anything if u dont build Guinsoo's Rageblade.

I really like this ability!! It helps u clear jungle camps faster, its awesome when ur chasing somone, u can even use it as some kind of escape mechanic. Furthermore, it has some serious Dmg and range on it, giving u the last chunk of dmg whenever somone seems to escape from u.

Tips and Tricks

U can use this ability to kill towers faster, as long as u are standing on the Dusk Trail

Its helpfull to use this spell against champions that can turn invisible. The Dusk Trail will show u their movement.

This is ur spellshield, it lasts for 1.5 seconds, if u can block a spell during this time, u will get the passive atkspd buff on this ability doubled for the next 5 seconds. It can be either ur saving grace, or it can cost ur life. Learn the animation of some specific abilities, so u can react fast enough to block it. It also gives u some passive atkspd, wich is nice for jungling, so dont forget to put one point into it at lvl 2.

The well known ominous purple shackles...this is not a DoT, as u could think in the first moment. It actually deals dmg twice, when u cast it on an enemy, and when the fear goes off. The Dmg on it is pretty weak and scales with ap since it is magic dmg.

Tips and Tricks

Unspeakable Horror is a tether type ability, wich means it can not be broken by hard cc abilities.

If somone tries to flash out of range, to not get feared, u can also flash (if u are fast enough) to close the gap and not break the shackles.

It's not recommendable to use this on jungle creeps, since it consumes alot of mana. Except for some rare cases, when u need the fear to not get hit by the creep.

Ur Ultimate is a real powerfull tool for ganking after lvl 6. It makes the whole map turn black for enemys, and denys them from sharing vision. The duration of 4 seconds is pretty long, so u can take ur time to wait for the right moment to engage. Just dont wait too long, because if u lose vision of ur target, u can no longer dash to it.

Tips and Tricks

Notice that if u get cc'd during ur flight, u will receive the stun snare or whatever, after u reach ur target. Meaning u cant be stopped mid-air.

U can also use this for stealing dragon/baron, just ult to the enemy jungler (or whoever is closest to it) and smite mid-air.

Ability Sequence

I max Shroud of Darkness second, because, the passive atksped will increase, this will speed up ur jungle clear and also higher ur dueling potential.

Unspeakable Horror is maxed last, since i experienced a much higher effort when maxing W second. Nevertheless it still increases the fear duration and dmg.

Item Build

This is the most important section of a guide(IMO), the item build section. Here i will explain when and why i build wich item. I have tested many builds on Nocturne, and found out that some items that seem to be good, totally failed my personal test (cinderhulk for example). I won't explain EVERY item, but if u want some more information, leave a comment.

Ninja Tabi are good if the enemy team has a lot of AD champions, besides building health is more efficient if u already have armor.

I use these boots most of the time, they help u get arround the map faster, so u can gank more often.

Jungle Item

VS
I like Warrior better when goin for an Assassin Build, while Bloodrazor seems better for an Off-Tank build. In the end the choice is urs, but it has to be said that Bloodrazor can kill tanks faster, and Warrior is better for soft, squishy targets.

Damage Options

I really like this item on Nocturne. It gives u a faster jungle clear, and a really strong first strike against ur prey. This item in combination with Infinity Edge and Death's Dance forms my core build. It also works pretty well with Duskblade of Draktharr.

I like this item on Nocturne since it gives u a solid ad value plus it makes u so strong in 1v1s. The additional 10% cdr are also really nice to have, since u want to reach ur cdr cap late game.

Duskblade is a really strong item when built first, it provides so much burst and also mobility, the passive reveals wards, wich is very usefull to regain vision control. I only build this item if i am far ahead, or in a lethality oriented build.

Maw is pretty cool, because it provides Dmg AND Magic Resist. wich means u can build dmg even if u are falling behind.

This item changes lots of things, when being ahead early. I build it when i go for a one-shot build, since the sheen proc does a whole lot of dmg. It works really well combined with crit and high cdr items.

This item is so good since it's rework, wich changed it from a pure defensive survivability item to a "push ur lead to the next level" thing. 40 Attack Damage on an item that gives u a second chance in teamfights is pretty huge i think, also 30 armor are not bad either.

Dmg Hydra is a really cool item, because of the wave clear, the lifesteal and raw ad it offers. Every time i build this, i get Tiamat as my first item, so i can farm up then gold faster, the auto attack reset is also nice.

Black Cleaver is a really solid item, i build it mostly for the movement speed burst and of course the huge amount of CDR. It can work pretty well, when facing tanky enemies.

Tank/Defensive Options

Steraks is a pretty good finishing item in every build, it provides survivability and most important bonus health if u get focused. And since the rework it is even better because of the tenacity, wich is really good for Nocturne.

Get this if u want more armor and/or Health, the movespeed+empowered attack effect is also nice, but i think the dmg is not really noticable. U could swap this out for Randuin's Omen if u have a hard time dealing with crit champions like Draven, Yasuo or almost every auto-attack based champion.

This is pretty good, if u want to be harder to kill. It is better in addition to some life steal stats, for example if u have finished Death's Dance, this item will solify ur dueling potential and survivability.

This is more or less a troll item, but it could still work, if u dont need to build specific resistances. Or if u are building 1 dmg item and straight tank after it. The regen passive will only trigger at 3000 HP (Hp granted by this item count).

This Item is just perfect if u are snowballing early, because it will increase ur burst by a lot. Also it provides some nice waveclear, wich will boost ur jungle clear immensely.

Early Game

Nocturne's strength lies in early-mid Game. His early ganks are really potent IMO, because a 1.25 seconds fear is hard to escape without flashing. As u will face ability-based mid lane champions most of the time, it is very important to time ur Shroud of Darkness right, for successfull ganks.

I will leave item build all up to you, as i mentioned before, this is just MY opinion, u dont have to play exactly how i do.

Mid Game

This it the time when Nocturne can really shine, if u didnt mess it up early. At this time u should have finished ur Jungle item Skirmisher's Sabre. Statikk Shiv is a also really good item for mid game and also to begin building ur core items.

Late Game

Late game phase starts when the map is open for teamfights, and ur team starts to group, this is at about 27-30 minutes. Nocturne's overall strength falls off pretty hard late, but if u make the right decisions, u can still be victorious.

Team Fighting

Number ONE Rule for Late Game fights:Dont start a teamfight on ur own, u are not the tank. There are other champions to do those things, champions with more HP and CC.

When ur Tank initiated a teamfight, and maybe some important ultimates are blown, by the enemy team. Get ready to use Paranoia onto a high priority target, most of the time it is the ADC or the APC (Mid Lane mage). Once u bursted one of them down, go for the top laner or the jungler next, be careful, both of them can be pretty hard to kill.

If the teamifight went well, and u have 3-4 members on ur team alive, i would recommend sieging towers before killing Baron Nashor.

I dont mention split-pushing in this guide, because i personally dont like Nocturne as a split-pusher. There are other Champions that are better at tasks like this, e.g. Shaco, Zed or Talon.

Summary

Nocturne as a Champion is:

Super Fun to Play

Fairly Easy to learn

A very effective Off-Tank/Assassin Jungler

So if you're looking for a champion to add to your collection, give Nocturne a shot.